Cushion-tire.



- S. A. ROUSE..

I CUSHION TIRE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT-30. 1913.

Patented May 16, 1916.

SEYMOUR A. Ro sE, on CHICAGO, rumors.

' I cUsHIoN-mn Specification of Letters latent.

? Applicationfiled september 30,1913. Serial No. 792,556. 1 e

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known thatI, 'SEYMOUR'AROUSE, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Gookand Stateof Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Cushion-Tires; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the, art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention comprehends improvements in cushion vtir esfor vehicles and re lates more particularly to those ofthetype which include as component parts a' tire proper, a tire rim' or. holder and metallic springs interposed between the tire and the inner Wall of the rim or holder. I

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a tire and cushioning means of this nature which shall be of extremely simple construction, very. practical and" fully as efficient as the pneumatic tire now generally used on motor vehicles. v, o j

Another object of the inventionis to provide a cushion tire whichfm'ay be readily assembled and which is so constructed as to permit of the various parts being easily reached, for repairs or replacement, and which will be very strong and durable;

Another object ofthe invention is to provide a structure of this nature wherein springs are so designed and arranged that it is practically impossible to injure them by an excessive load and in whichthe' tension of said springs may be easilyadjusted.

Withthese and other objectsin view as will become more apparent as thedescrip:

tion proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combina: tion and arrangement of parts as willbe hereinafter more fully described and claimed. 1 v I For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is'to be had/to the fol lowing description and accOmpanyingdraw ings, in whichv ,Figure'l isa fragmentary side elevation, showinga portion ofa wheel fand my improved cushion tire secured thereto, Fig. 2

is an enlarged fragmentaryview ofoneside of the tlregwith a section of the rim or.

holder removed Fig. 3 is a transverse sec- Patented May 16,1916;

tion taken onnthe planepof line of Fig. 2, and Fig. '4: is an outside elevationof oneof the springs, showingjthe relative pos1t1ons of the spring.

Referring. in detail to. the drawings by numerals, 5 designates a portion of awheel hub, 6 the spokes of a Wheel and 7 the felly.

stay-bolts with respect to said A tire rim or holder 8formed in twosec- Y tions and 10 is mounted upon the felly 7 Thls rim or holder comprises aneinner wall 11 whlch 1s opposed to the felly and the side walls 12,- said walls" beingjofiset near their outer edges, as ndicated by the numeral .131

a so as to enlarge the ch'amberformed between them. Inwardly converging walls 14 con-1 nect the ofi'set portions with the mainpor tions of thevrim'andfoutwardlv converging clamping sectionsv 15 are formed adjacent the outer edges of the rim or holder. It will be noted: that the section of the'inn'er wall carried by the member 9 is'somewha't wider than the section carried by the member 10,

and'th at thesetwo' sections [have their meetingedges beveled or biasedl A solid rubber tire, designated as an entlrety by the numeral 16 and preferably formed with acircular bore or channel17 j annular'projections 20 which have their side ispositioned between the {side walls of the i faces 21 parallel to and in engagement with i the offset portions 13 of the holder andtheir outer faces 22. parallel to .andlada'pted for engagement with the sections 15 of the holder.

I To cushionthe tire,-I, providela plurality ofsprings, generally designated 23, each of saidfsprings being formed with a head .24 upon one'end and a clip 26 upon the other end. The head is transversely and longitudinally curved to conform with the curved face or wall 18 of the tire and is of such a width as to completely embrace the face 18'. It will be'noted, upon reference to Fig." 2,

that the sides 25 of each of the heads are almost rectangular and present a large area for engagement with the tire. The clip 26, which is formed upon one end of each spring, is somewhat U-shaped in cross sectlon, faces outwardly and is equal in length to the width of the spring. Upon referenceandto hold the rim sections together, I em ploy a plurality of stay-bolts 28 and 29, said bolts being alternately arranged. All of the bolts are securely riveted to the section 9 of the holder by having their reduced ends extended through openings in said section and flattened, as shown in Fig. 3; The bolts extend transversely through the holder at a distance from the inner wall and have their other ends reduced in diameter and extended through openings 30 formed in the section 10. The bolts 29 are threaded upon one end for engagement with the nuts 31 which thread against the section 10 and lock it rigidly to the section 9. I find it is not necessary to secure nuts to all ofthe bolts, and for this reason I leave the bolts 28 unthreaded, as clearly shown in Fig. 4.

The clip of each spring is fitted over the inner side of one of the bolts, as is shown in Fig. 2, and said spring extends forwardly across the outer sideof the next preceding bolt and then engages the tire, as clearly shown. It will be noted that the bolts are formed with straight parallel side faces 31' and curved outer and inner faces 32 so that the bolts fit closely within the clip and offer a large surface for engagement therewith. Each spring extends partly over or beyond the next preceding spring and has its head positioned about opposite the next two succeeding bolts, as will be evident upon ref erence to Fig. 4, and it will also be noted that the heads 24 of the springs are offset somewhat from the central portions thereof, as indicated by the numeral 33. The tension upon the springs may be adjusted by driving a pin or key, such as indicated b the numeral 34, between the clips and the lts. The larger these pins are, the more they cause the springs to bear against their fulcrum bolts and against the inner side of the tire.

In assembling my cushion tire, all of the stay-bolts are first riveted securely tothe section 9 of the rim or holder, and this sec tion is then bolted or otherwise secured to the felly 7. The tire is then placed in-position against the section 9 and the springs set in position by hand or by any other means. After these springs have been positioned, the tension thereof is increased by placing the pins 34 in position. Any suit able lever may beemployed for separating the clips and bolts in order that these tension pins may be easily placed within the clips. The section 10 of the holder is then set in position and secured by the nuts 31. In operation a pressure upon any section of the tire will force said section inwardly a ainst the s rings which are opposed t ereto and t ese springs are of such a weight as to resist ordinary pressures without being bent to any great extent. The thickness of the tire prevents it from bein flexed so sharply as tothrow all'ofthe loa or strain upon one spring. If an excessive load isvplaced, p n the springs, they, are forced inwardly against the stay-bolts and against one another and therefore will not be injured inmy way whatsoever. A heavy loadalso tends to flatten the tire andthis is overcome by making the tire very thick where it, enga s the ofi'set portions 13 and by having the, 'eads24 ofthe 5 rings extend for quiteLa distance around t e inner face of the tire. The clamping sections 15' of the rim or holder prevent the tire from becoming disengaged therefromandalso limitthe outward movement thereof. Theholder is so shaped as to prevent any lateral movement. of the tire, but does not retard the movement thereof so as to pro rly absorb shocks and jars. Thelu s2'Lb; en g the sides of the rimor lder 8, ho dthe springs against lateral movement without offering much frictional resistance. If desired, some dry lubricant may be placed within the rimin order to cause all of the movable parts to work freel Fronrthe foregoing description taken in connection with the accom anying drawings, it will be evidentthat. have provided a very simple and practical cushion tire which will operate as effectually as a pneumatic tire and last very much longer.

While I have shownand described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement of parts. may be made without departing fromthe scope and spirit ofjthe invention as claimed.

Having claim In a combination, atire rim substantially U-shaped in cross section, bolts transversely in said rim a tire extendin around and spaced from said bolts, a sha edclip engagingthe inner ortion of eac be t, a leaf spr ngconn withjone edge. ofeach clip, engaging the outer portion of the adjacent bolt and the inner surface of the tire and being tapered from its In testimony whereof I aflix my signature ifnner dto its l(:uter end, and gpacingf lugs in presence of two witnesses.

orme on t e converging e ges 0 sai spring contacting the outer surface of the k Y ROUSE' s adjacent bolt and slidably engaging the in- Witnesses:

ner surfaces of the sides of the tire rim to HENRY BRUNDER,

secure the spring against lateral movement. DEMETEING D. DEMETRAK LAY.

copies at this patent may he obtained for live cents each, by addressing the Commissioner 0! Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

